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Wednesday, 11 April 2012

Algerian-inspired Makrout ellouz

Today, I decided to make a post about Makrout ellouz (Almond
Makrout) which I enjoy, especially when it's made with almond paste (not
the store-bought marzipan) because it’s again one of these
melt-in-the-mouth type of sweets that
you should try at least once. Besides, if you do it properly, you should be able to have a thin crunchy crust of icing that will form while you are coating (chemistry) and a melting almond filling especially if it's not made of almond powder but rather an almond paste (usually made using the same machine making ground/minced meat).

Makrout or makrouds are sweets usually made of a semoulina
dough stuffed with date paste. It’s an
Algerian sweet that we find in Morocco
as well, mostly in the Eastern part. Makrout ellouz is done differently.

Last week, I made Makrout ellouz with a homemade almond powder: I
semi-roasted the blanched almond which I coated with oil. Then I grounded them
to a powder. But this is not the traditional way. It turned nice and different,
you can tell by the colour. I wonder how this will turn out if we make these
makrouts with an almond/hazelnut paste, or almond/walnuts….

Ingredients

About 30 pieces

Prep: 15 min - Resting time: 1 h - Baking: 10 min

750g of almond paste (70% almond/ 30% sugar)

A pinch of salt

3 eggs (about 120g)

Zest of 2 lemons

1 tbsp of orange blossom water

Starch or icing sugar to dust work surface

Option 1 for soaking: syrup

500g water

250g caster sugar

2 to 3 tbsp of orange blossom water

Option 2 for soaking:orange blossom

1 cup of orange blossom

To finish

About 300g of icing sugar

Preparation

Making the dough and shaping

Mix all ingredients; let the dough rest about 30 min.

Dust work surface with icing sugar or starch to avoid dough
from sticking.

Shape long sausages (1 to 1.5 cm thick), cut into 2 cm long.
Place on a greased baking sheet or preferably covered with parchment. If you want Mlabbess, just shape small balls of 2 cm diameter instead.

4 comments:

And what about kalories?! :( Ciao nada, how r u doing?! Btw, apart from Kalories, are they easy to make as it seems?! Years ago, I've tried them in Tunis, they could be my madeleines .. I wish I can make it very soon! thanks nada and have a nice day!serena

Hehe, this reminds me a lot of something I'll be posting myself in a couple of days, though the final stages, with the icing, are different. I've always wondered what these things were when I see them in stores here sometimes. Nice to finally know (as well as nice to know I'd enjoy it!) - thanks for sharing it Nada!

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About me!

I'm Nada, a London-based Moroccan food blogger, married to a wonderful Welsh man. I enjoy putting flavors together.. I enjoy gathering and testing recipes from all over the world and wherever I live or travel to. So join me in this blogging journey. Have a go at the recipes and don't forget to share your thoughts!